Fire and Water
by imjustsaiyan2
Summary: Bulma, the daughter of the Southern Water tribe chief and Vegeta, the son of the Fire Lord, are forced to get married, but why? Bulma is then forced to leave her quiet life in the water tribe and start her new life as the wife of the future Fire Lord. Bulma X Vegeta and maybe Goku X ChiChi if I can. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

_I hope you all enjoy, my first AU story I hope I do it justice, let me know what you guys think. I don't own DBZ or ATLAB. I also don't know where this story is going but I hope I can keep up with it. Once again Enjoy!_

* * *

Her hair was fixed in a tight bun at the top of her head, the dress was a ruby red and it had a white silk sash wrapped tightly around the waist. Gold garnishes were placed carefully around her hair and skin. The corset top was pulled to its tightest setting and the train that followed her required ten people to carry it. The princess looked absolutely gorgeous even though she was also extremely uncomfortable.

Today was the day that she was to be married to Prince Vegeta, a man she had only met once prior to this moment. All she knew about the Prince was that he was the next heir to the fire kingdom and he was 18 years old. The fire nation had forcibly took over her home land and forced her to marry him, that is, if she wanted her village to not be destroyed. The princess sighed, this was it, she was only 15 and she was getting married, she hadn't even been able to do anything exciting yet. The only thing the princess had to look forward to was the fact that she would finally be able to leave her small kingdom, ever since she was born she was sheltered.

"You look great."

"Want to trade places, you'll get to marry a prince."

"As much as I'd love to take you up on that offer, marrying the fire lord's son doesn't sound like a good time."

Princess Bulma gave her childhood bestfriend ChiChi, a pouty face. This was another shortcoming to being the tribe leader's daughter.

"I'm going to give him hell for the both of us ChiChi. He didn't even give me a betrothal necklace." Bulma looked her friend deep in the eyes trying to force a smile. They grew up together and Bulma trusted ChiChi with her life and she knew her friend felt the same way.

"Give him hell Bulma."

The girls gave each other one last hug before it was time for Bulma to head down the aisle, the path that led to her husband to be.

Bulma walked down the aisle, she glanced to her left and saw her whole kingdom in attendance. Everyone was wearing traditional water-tribe ceremonial clothes. The wave of blue was calming and familiar, it looked like the vast ocean. The princess then looked to her right and saw a pool of red, of course the fire nation looked like an ocean of blood, a sea of danger and destruction, it clashed so much with what she was used to.

Bulma's stomach began to do summersaults, she was getting nervous this was going to be what she saw every day. The fire nation looked so tense, most of them gave her a disgusting look, they were clearly disapproving of this whole marriage thing as much as she was. Bulma gave them a stern irritated look in response as she continued down the path to her demise. If Bulma could just run away from this all with no consequences, she would. The Prince always looked so uptight and angry, like someone took his favorite toy as a kid and never gave it back.

The wedding was taking place on neutral grounds, it took her tribe 5 whole days to get there. It was a plain flat area, but the fire nation dressed it up in tons fire nation paraphernalia, she imagined that this was what the fire nation looked like, nothing water tribe related was visible other than it's people. They didn't even try to embrace the water tribe traditions, it was a pure fire nation wedding from the wedding dress to the music.

Bulma finally snapped back to reality when she was face to face with Prince Vegeta, Bulma instantly regretted all of the times that she wished for a boyfriend, she now wished that she was back at the Southern Water tribe. He stared her straight in the eyes which made Bulma extremely uncomfortable, she took another glance at her tribe and smiled. She was going to nail this wedding thing, she was trained weeks prior on how to properly conduct herself during a fire nation wedding. She just had to stand there as the people around her basically did everything for her.

As Bulma's eye scanned over the group of her people she took notice of the boy she was previously engaged to. His name was Yamcha and he was a nice boy, Bulma and him had been spending a lot of time together. Even though their marriage too was arranged, she didn't mind him, she knew him and actually liked him. Bulma quickly turned her gaze away from him. She hoped that nobody noticed their locked eyes, it would probably cause a lot of trouble.

They placed the fire nation emblem in the center of her bun and the ceremony was going flawlessly, until she had to kiss the Prince, the crowd was silent as the two came together for their first kiss. Bulma was hesitant at first, she felt like she was somehow letting everyone down, but she didn't have a choice. Bulma leaned in and placed a small kiss on the Prince's lips, he applied a little force back and quickly ended it. After that they turned to the guest and bowed, as to say thank you for your attendance. Everyone began to clap on the fire nation side while the water tribe hollered and called, this was tradition for them.

"What a bunch of animals." The Prince said under his breath, but it was not low enough for Bulma not to hear. It wasn't long until the Prince felt a stinging sensation on the side of his face from a slap that was swiftly delivered by his wife. The guest all fell silent.

"How dare you? I may be married to you but I refuse to let you talk about my people like that, like the fire nation is that much better! Listen he.." Bulma was cut short by a gang of fire nation soldiers who grabbed the Princess and took her to the back of the elaborate stage.

The soldiers threw Bulma hard on the floor.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you." One soldier rose his arm to strike her but was restrained by none other than Prince Vegeta. Bulma looked away out of disgust, she didn't feel like looking at him, the guards did her a favor by dragging her out of the ceremony.

"I'll take care of her, leave us." The Prince ordered the soldiers out of the room and they all smiled as they filed out in a uniform fashion.

"That was quite the stunt you pulled." The Prince approached the girl and lifted her up by the arm.

"Yeah, well maybe you should watch your mouth from time to time, you can come off as a jerk."

Bulma felt a burning on her arm where the Prince was holding her, 'Shit, that's right he's a fire bender.' Bulma thought as she winced at the pain, she didn't cry out though, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. The Prince let her go as she pulled her arm in from pain.

"Is this how you treat all the women in your kingdom?"

"We treat our women equally, therefore that was payback for the show you just put on for everyone. Prepare your goodbyes we'll be leaving soon."

The Prince left the room and soon after, another soldier entered the room to dress her scar.

"He's not all that bad once you get to know him." The guard had a gentle smile, he didn't even seem like he was from the fire nation.

"Well he sure had me fooled, ow!" Bulma slapped the soldier's hand away, he clearly wasn't aware of his own strength. "You're dressing a wound not fixing an airship!"

The soldier let out a laugh, "Sorry, sorry. I'm Goku by the way, you'll be seeing a lot of me from now on." Goku held out his hand and Bulma hesitantly grabbed it, the soldier lifted her up to lead her back outside where her family was waiting for her. Before she left the room she removed the large train that was weighing her down and tossed it on the floor.

"Okay, now we can go."

Goku smiled and directed her to where her family.

XXX

Bulma ran into the arms of her parents who held on to her as if they never wanted to let go. Bulma looked at her older sister, Tights and gave her one last hug.

"Take care of mom and dad. I'm sure they'll let me visit from time to time."

"I'm looking forward to it." Tights looked at the fire emblem pendant in her sister's hair, it was horrible that it came to this. Tights wasn't sure why they wanted Bulma to marry the Prince but she was sure that the reason wasn't a good one. If the fire nation wanted to destroy their little tribe they could of, there was no Avatar to protect them. Bulma wasn't a bender so Tights couldn't wrap her head around why they forced her into marriage.

Tights kissed her little sister's forehead. Bulma pulled away from her family, if she didn't leave now they'd have to pry her from them.

"It's time for us to leave Princess." Goku gestured toward the royal fleet that waited for her, this was the end of her quiet little life in the Southern Water Tribe.

Bulma boarded the ship and she had never seen anything like it, it was enormous on the inside and out. Tons of people were scrambling around, making preparations for lift off she assumed.

"I don't like this thing." Bulma looked back at Goku, who was following close behind her.

"Believe me it's faster than any other form of travel at the moment." Goku looked back down at Bulma, he honestly liked her the moment she slapped the Prince. She'd give the Prince a challenge and Goku couldn't wait to see how that would turn out. "Let's go to the royal quarters, there you can change out of this wedding dress."

Goku guided the Princess through the corridors of the ship. Left and right Bulma saw fire benders glaring at her, trying to intimidate her with whispered taunts and glares.

"If anyone has anything to say, speak up, otherwise shut up and move it along." Bulma wasn't one just sit there and be insulted, they should have already known that from the wedding fiasco.

One soldier approached the Princess, "Fine, I've got something to say I'm not sure why they decided to let you marry the Prince, but if you decide pull that shit you did at the wedding again, I'll be sure to end you." It was the same soldier that tried to strike her at the wedding, figures he'd have something to say.

"Cool it Nappa, you shouldn't speak to her that way." Goku stepped in front of Bulma, if he let her get hurt he'd be in loads of trouble. "Come on Bulma, ignore him he's just jealous he couldn't marry Prince Vegeta." Goku teased as he continued to lead Bulma to her destination.

Nappa growled, he hated Goku but he knew he was no match for him. Goku had ranked top of his class and was instantly promoted to Vegeta's personal guard, even though he was several years younger than both Nappa and Vegeta. Seeing him just strut away like that irritated Nappa to his core.

"Here's your room." Goku knocked on the door before receiving permission to come in.

"Hey Vegeta, I brought your wife." Goku laughed as he saw the Prince look at him with irritation.

"You never told me we were sharing a room, this ship is huge can't I have my own room." Bulma barked at Goku sharing the same glare as Vegeta.

"Well you never asked. I guess I'll leave you two alone, seeya!" Goku hurriedly left the room. Vegeta rose from the bed he was lying on and stepped forward until he was right in front of his wife.

"Why would you expect your own room, we're married so I suggest you start getting use to this." Vegeta's voice was dry and bored. He glanced at her arm which was now bandaged, Vegeta had sent Goku to tend to her wounds after the incident.

"Is your arm any better."

"Yeah, no thanks to you though. Why do you even care?"

Vegeta didn't answer her, he simply reached around her and loosened her corset. Bulma pushed him away as she staggered backwards.

"Hey mister, what do you think you're doing? I may be your wife but there will be none of that tonight."

Vegeta laughed sarcastically as he pointed toward the bathroom.

"You have a change of clothes in there, unless you rather stay in your wedding dress the whole trip. I figured you would need help getting that undone." Vegeta grabbed Bulma and pushed her in the bathroom. "Change" was all he said before shutting the door behind her.

Bulma looked in the mirror and saw that her face was brushed with pink, was she blushing just then? She turned away from the mirror to see some garments waiting for her on the counter. She changed into the fire nation clothes, of course it was all red. All the red really clashed with her blue eyes and hair. Out of everyone in the water tribe, Bulma was born with ocean blue hair, it's what separated her from the rest of her people, what made her special. Bulma removed the fire emblem from her bun and her hair dropped to her shoulders. She really wished she had some beads to put in it, but she'd just have to settle with it straight down.

Bulma cleaned herself up and she finally looked like Bulma again, minus all the red, brown and gold clothes. She stepped out of the bathroom to see the Prince staring out one of the windows.

"What now?" Bulma asked nervously. She honestly didn't know what came next since they were married now.

"Now we sleep, it's getting late."

"There's only one bed, where will you sleep?" Even though Bulma already knew the answer to this question she still had to ask. Maybe, just maybe, there was another secret bed in the closet or something.

"Well this is my bed, so I'll be sleeping here."

"Don't you mean our bed, I'm your wife, what's yours is mine and what's mine is yours." Bulma smiled, she had him there. However, she immediately regretted the comment as the Prince approached her.

"I suppose you're right." He grabbed her chin and pulled her face close to his. "Since you want to use the wife card to win your arguments, why don't we consummate this marriage, wife?"

Bulma felt her face blushing, she'd have to take control of this situation.

"Fine then let's." Bulma sounded a bit more aggressive than she meant to and pushed the Prince on the bed. There was a genuine look of surprise on his face, he honestly didn't think she had it in her.

Bulma climbed on top of the Prince, Bulma felt a shiver go down her spine, what if he didn't back down, what if he actually welcomed her approach. Bulma's body got stiff as she felt his hands cradle her waist.

"What? Are you getting nervous already?" The Prince already knew she was challenging him, but he also knew that she wouldn't go as far as to actually have sex with him. He was just playing her little game for now.

"N-no." Bulma leaned close to the Prince's face, his eyes were locked on hers. It was like he was looking deep into her soul, it made Bulma uneasy.

"Vegeta the Fire Lord!..." Goku was at the threshold of the bedroom door holding a scroll in his hand. Goku had urgent news to tell the Prince however he didn't expect to walk in on a scene like this, they didn't even like each other two seconds ago. A devilish grin spread across the soldier's face.

"I see I've caught you guys at a bad time. I'm sure the Fire Lord will understand if this message was delayed." Goku began to close the door but Vegeta rose moving Bulma from on top of him. He really wished he could have ended that game, but he had business to attend to. Bulma just sat on the bed embarrassed, for some strange reason she didn't want Goku to see her in that position.

"I see you and the Princess are getting along." Goku joked and received a hard elbow to the stomach from Vegeta.

"What does my father want?"

"Maybe it's best we speak outside." Goku opened the door and followed the Prince out. "See ya Bulma…er I mean Princess." The door closed behind them and Bulma quickly rose from the bed and pressed her ear firm against the door. What could they possibly be talking about? Bulma was sure that this news was about her so she tried to pick out bits and pieces of the conversation.

"Vegeta, your father wanted me to give you this scroll along with this message…" Goku held his chin for a moment. "I can't remember exactly what he said but it was along the lines of keep a close eye on Bulma, or something. I wasn't taking notes and he was talking really fast."

"Isn't he on the ship, can't he tell me himself."

"No he just left, apparently there was some business he had to take care of, 'official matters' he calls it."

Goku was the worst person to deliver a message, but it came with the job. Vegeta really couldn't decipher the half message that Goku told him. He was forced to marry this girl and his father never really told him why, but he had to do it he had to honor the request. Vegeta rubbed his temples.

"Whatever." The Prince walked back into the room, maybe the scroll will clear things up. Vegeta opened the door and noticed Bulma rushing back to the bed throwing the covers over her head as she got in. Vegeta completely ignored the fact that she was listening in on the conversation, maybe next time he'd pick a more private location.

Vegeta was tired and simply crawled into the bed next to Bulma, he stayed on one side of the bed and she on the other. Both of their backs were facing each other, Bulma shifted around in the bed. She had never shared her bed with another man, with her mom and dad yes, but this was way different. Bulma glanced over her shoulder after a half an hour passed.

"Hey are you still awake?" Bulma asked but there was no answer. "Guess not." Bulma tried once again to fall asleep but it took an hour for her tiredness to consume and lull her to bed.

Once Vegeta was sure that Bulma was asleep he turned and glanced back at her, she was actually extremely beautiful for a water tribe girl. The Princess had beautiful blue hair that the Prince had never seen before, it was strange. Vegeta rolled back over and closed his eyes, even though he was in an extremely unusual situation, he wouldn't let himself loose his cool because of this woman.


	2. Chapter 2

_Sorry sorry sorry for the delay (just graduated and planning on enlisting in the Army), but if one person is willing to read than I am willing to write for you... it just takes a while sometimes. Here's the latest installment I already have the next two chapters finished I just need to make sure to triple check them and I might just upload them weekly. As always, enjoy!_

* * *

Bulma was woken up abruptly by sunlight, the Prince had pulled back the shades to let in the sun and start his first morning with this woman.

"Ten more minutes." A groggy Bulma was not ready to get up, she could feel that it was super early in the morning. The angle at which the light was entering the room was enough to tell her that.

"Get up woman, we have business to attend to." Vegeta ripped the sheets off of his wife and stared in amusement as she pulled her pillow over her head to shield her from the light.

"Why don't you go take a bath and I'll go next." Bulma just needed a few more minutes.

"I already took a shower now get up." Vegeta lifted the girl from the bed.

Bulma's body was limp as she tried to somehow make herself heavier, but he was strong.

"Just leave me alone! If our evening doesn't consist of penguin sledding, I don't want to do it!"

"Penguin sledding?"

"You know penguin sledding…when you get on an otter penguin and go to a frozen slope and….whatever forget it. Just put me down, I'll get ready."

Vegeta watched as she walked to the bathroom with a raised eyebrow. "Penguin sledding, huh?" Vegeta held his chin as he tried to imagine the activity in his head. Bulma stopped at the threshold of the door and turned back to look at Prince Vegeta, who was deep in thought.

"If we ever go back to the water tribe, I'll show you. Penguin sledding is actually extremely fun."

Bulma then entered the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Maybe if she was extremely nice to him, he'd let her go home and call off this whole marriage thing. The Princess pressed her back to the door, this was depressing, in just a matter of days she'd be in the Fire Nation with a bunch of people who hated her and her kind. Bulma undressed and stared at the bath, it was strange. She played with the handles until the right temperature of water poured from the spout.

Back home she didn't have bath tubs like this but she definitely heard about them. She dipped herself in the water and let the familiarity of the liquid consume her thoughts, filling her with the memories of her tribe, her home.

"This is depressing."

XXX

Bulma walked side by side with her husband off of the ship, she was surrounded by fire nation guards. It had been days on that awful ship and now she was finally able to stretch her legs. The blunette shuddered slightly, something still made her nervous about being around all of these Fire Nation hoodlums.

"They're here to protect you." Vegeta whispered.

Did he notice her small gesture, was he trying to comfort her? Bulma simply nodded in response and took a step closer to the Prince.

"Where are we going anyway?" Bulma looked toward her husband.

"The palace. That's where the official reception shall be held."

"Oh well this is pretty far for my tribe to travel, I hope they made it alright." Bulma got a tad excited, she would get to see her family again.

"Your tribe…will not be in attendance. This is a strictly Fire Nation gathering, that is, with the exception of you." Vegeta's face was unchanging.

"What?! How is that fair? This is my marriage too, my family deserves to be here just as much as anyone else!" Bulma was yelling while the Prince simply put his face in his hand.

"What is the problem with you people? Always yelling to get your point across like some low class animals." Vegeta voice was low and stern as he grabbed Bulma's arm. "Let's not have a repeat of last time."

"You can burn me to a crisp if you want to, I don't care anymore!" Bulma hadn't realized how much the stress had got to her. Being so far away from home in these conditions was maddening. The stress of the situation made her want to break down and cry, she'd probably never see her family again and she was going to live in a nation where everyone despised her.

The Princess ceased walking and so did her troop. The Prince turned to look at her as the water began to build up behind her eyes. He stepped in close to her and began to speak low enough so that only she could hear him.

"Listen carefully, I get that you're upset over everything but take into consideration what you are putting at risk here." His eyes shifted from side to side as everyone stared. A sigh escaped his lips. "It's either you behave yourself or your tribe is completely destroyed. It is ultimately your choice and I'm giving you right now to make that choice. Continue walking or turn back and be taken out the moment you step out of this circle."

"That's not much of a choice…is it?"

Bulma could not argue this, she forgot all about the basic terms of the agreement made between the two nations, she had to marry the Prince or be destroyed, there was no in between.

"I don't make the rules, I follow them. If I could have it my way…" Vegeta closed his eyes and reopened them, failing to complete his thought. "Nevermind."

The Prince turned back around and proceeded to walk, hesitantly, Bulma followed suit.

XXX

After going through numerous wardrobe changes, Bulma was finally placed in an appropriate dress, it was one hundred times more extravagant than the first one.

"You don't look like much a fighter, so I assume you're a healer." A fire tribe woman spoke to Bulma as she fixed Bulma's hair into an appropriate style for the wedding.

"Huh, oh no I'm not a bender." Bulma responded as curled strand of hair gently fell on her cheek. The fire tribe woman sucked in her breath, like she was about to say something but decided to hold it back. Bulma already knew what the woman wanted to say, however, it was so obvious.

'Why in the world was she the one who was marrying the prince and she is not even a bender?' The unanswered question lingered in the air, the room felt small and tension began to build around her. She needed this wedding to be over with.

XXX

The second ceremony was over and she was finally being escorted back to her room by Goku. The Prince had been stuck with talking to the guest a little longer and since nobody even acknowledged her, she kindly asked Goku to take her to her room if it was at all possible. Luckily, it was.

"So how exactly does someone like you put up with such a stern person like Vegeta?" Bulma enquired.

A soft laugh escaped the soldier's lips and he smiled back at Bulma. "It's not hard really, he's not all that bad." He replied reassuringly.

"Yeah, right."

Bulma really liked Goku. He was far different from the rest of the fire nation, he actually seemed like he had a soul. Even under all that armor he was wearing, he didn't seem capable of hurting a small animal. "How in the world were you appointed to protect the Prince, you're so- nice… are you sure you are from the fire nation?"

Goku stopped in his tracks and Bulma bumped into his back, he stopped so abruptly she hadn't had time to stop herself from walking. The Princess got nervous as the soldier straightened himself out, right before taking one step forward and thrusting his right fist straight in front of himself. The flames that appeared before him seemed to pour from his fist, they were controlled and fierce at the same time, Bulma wasn't sure how to explain it. This was the first time she had seen fire bending this close, that is not including the time Vegeta burned her. This was actual fire bending and the stance that Goku assumed was strong, far different from the water bending she had seen countless times.

Goku pushed forward whipping his left arm around as a trail of fire followed it, all his weight shifted to his right leg and then back to his left as he kicked his right leg up and fire followed. He definitely tamed fire, it wasn't wild, it obeyed his movements. His whole persona changed as he bended the fire, he looked like a captain leading his soldiers to battle.

Goku turned back to face the Princess, his hands laced behind his head as his grin widened. "Yup, I'm pretty sure."

Bulma's eyes were wide, she was actually impressed.

"You could have just said yes." Bulma responded. "I thought you were going to set me on fire, like you did that curtain over there."

"Oh no! Not again!" Goku quickly glanced in the direction she was pointing to see nothing there. He returned his glance back to the Princess who was stifling a laugh. "Hey, I thought I was in some serious trouble there."

Bulma laughed some more. "I'm laughing at the fact that you've actually done it before." Goku rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah well, that was a long time ago." Goku smiled as he turned back around to lead the Princess back to her room.

XXX

Vegeta was tired of talking to these people, all of them just wanted to know why he was marrying this water tribe girl. He had to stick to short answers that never truly satisfied the question. He tried to change topics often so things didn't linger to long on his wife, he honestly did not have much to say about her, he didn't know her.

"But did you see the color of her hair, it's blue!" The group of people laughed as Vegeta swirled the drink in his cup.

"Excuse me."

The Prince set his cup down on a nearby table and headed towards the exit, he could not handle these people anymore, he needed to think. He hadn't understood his father's actions or what he was planning, all the prince knew was that he was frustrated. Everything happened too fast and he never felt more out of control of what was going on in his life. He had never actually been control of his life but he was never more aware of that fact than he was right now.

Vegeta's blood was boiling, he glanced down at his fist which were clenched tight, too tight. A stream of red trickled through his balled fist. He couldn't help but hear Goku's voice in the back of his head.

'Vegeta you need to learn how to control your temper or you'll never control fire.'

Vegeta pulled his other hand to his head and rubbed his temples, he truly hated Goku. He hated the fact that Goku was a complete idiot, but could be absolutely right at the same time. He was angry when the woman slapped him and no matter how hard he held back, he still ended up burning her. It was completely unintentional, but he had to roll with it.

Vegeta decided that maybe he could bend a little to get his mind off of things, he needed to go up his room and change into something more suitable for training. He had to calm the inner flame that raged inside him and the only time he could really think was when he released some of that fire. The Prince proceeded toward his room.

Vegeta entered the room to see Bulma and Goku sharing the same fire bending poses. The Prince raised one eyebrow, a woman from the water tribe doing fire bending poses was a sight he never thought he'd see.

Goku looked up at the Prince and then immediately bowed his head, "Hey, Vegeta!" The Soldier approached the Prince and set his hand on his shoulder. "This wife of yours is quite the fighter." Vegeta returned his glance to the woman, she was still practicing all of the poses he assumed Goku taught her and she was doing quite well for herself.

Vegeta nudged Goku, "How long have you two been at this?" Goku looked down at the Prince, despite the fact that Goku was younger than the Prince, the Prince still managed to be a head shorter than he was. The Soldier shook his head in an unsure manner, "Pretty much since we left the ceremony, she's a natural really, so good I'm pretty sure I saw a little smoke escape her fist." Goku continued to look at Vegeta who was staring intently on Bulma.

"Can you please stop staring at me? You're making me uncomfortable." Bulma paused her movements and looked at the Prince.

"What's with the sudden interest in fire bending?"

Vegeta approached the bluenette, his eyes scanning her from top to bottom. She never looked like she could be a fighter, her body was petite and her skin was soft. Even though her hair was scattered on her face, some strands plastered to her by the sweat that rolled down her skin, she still looked like a princess and not a warrior. Her eyes were intense as she watched him approach her.

"Well, I never actually seen it up close and it was cool. So, I decided I wanted to learn some moves and here I am." Her hands fell on her hips. "Plus, Goku seems like a professional, I decided to let him show me." The Princess added.

A look of irritation quickly flashed past Vegeta's face. "Well then let's see what he taught you." Vegeta quickly changed into some more comfortable clothes, bandaging his hand in the process. After he finished changing he approached the woman.

Goku leaned against a nearby wall as he watched the newlyweds take their positions. He watched as they both started the beginning poses, the poses every firebender learned as a child in that exact order. The longer he watched the more he thought that maybe he should leave. He wanted Bulma to like Vegeta, he wasn't a bad guy, Goku pushed his body off the wall and quietly made his exit.

"You're pretty good," Vegeta said as they both transitioned to the next pose, "but you're still a little sloppy and slow." Bulma shot him an irritated look. "Well considering I've only been learning this for the past hour, I'd say I'm doing fantastic."

They transitioned again. Vegeta simply scoffed as Bulma smiled back at him. "Give me two hours and I'm sure I could beat you in a fire bending stand-off, and I can't even bend fire." The bluenette joked as she kicked one leg up at the same time as Vegeta.

"An Agni Kai, huh? Is that a challenge?"Vegeta said as both of their feet hit the ground. Bulma glanced at him confused, "Anagnikai? What is that?" He didn't return her glance he was focused on the task at hand. "Just Agni Kai, it's what you just referred to as a fire bending stand-off." There was silence between them for a second, "Alright, I challenge you to an Agni Kai," The Princess turned to look at the Prince who was smiling. "You're joking right, surely you're joking."

Bulma ceased her movements and approached Vegeta, "That is unless you're scared?" Vegeta stopped his movements as well. "Only fire benders can participate in an Agni Kai, and last time I check, you can't even bend water let alone fire." He looked at Bulma who was already assuming the first position, "Well then, no bending just hand to hand combat." Bulma smiled at him as he mirrored her stance.

"Don't worry I'll go easy on you." The bluenette said as she gestured for him to come at her, somehow teasing him distracted her from everything else that was going on at the moment. She liked learning how to fire bend, despite the fact that no fire appeared.

Vegeta restricted himself to the basic few stances that Bulma had just learned. The two exchanged blows, Vegeta never actually hit her and stayed in a defensive position, successfully blocking or evading every one of her moves. Her movements slowed, she was getting tired. Bulma came up with a punch toward his shoulder, this move was new, Vegeta bobbed out of the way grabbing her arm and in the same motion pulling it behind her.

Bulma's back was toward him, she tried to elbow him with her free arm, but she was unsuccessful as that arm was also captured and pulled cleaning behind her body. Bulma was not in any pain but she no longer had the use of her arms.

"You lose." Vegeta said from behind her. He felt her breathing trying to steady its pace. She then began squirming in his grip and he just pulled her in closer, his lock on her becoming tighter. It wasn't until Bulma looked back at him that he realized how close they actually were, he could see clearly how much her eyes truly resembled the vast blue ocean. Her hair laid damp against his chest, the red of his shirt clashed so much with the blue, or rather turquoise of her hair.

Bulma was lost for a second, she was staring up at the Prince and she was pretty sure this was the first time she actually seen him have fun. He wasn't smiling from ear to ear, you could see it in his eyes which were a dark gold. Typically, he was tense but right now he was relaxed and enjoying himself. Bulma felt a chill run down her back as she became aware of his breath hitting the back of her neck. She also became aware of the solid foundation his chest provided for her, he was warm.

"I give." Bulma finally said, defeated. She was promptly released from her bind. "Next time, I won't go so easy on you."

Vegeta lowered his hands to her hips and jerking them slightly to the side. "If you square your hips off, you'd have a better chance landing that uppercut. But don't hold your breath on being able to match me at combat."

The Princess stared down at his hands, she knew she was blushing and wouldn't dare look up at him with the pink that spread across her face. She pulled herself away from him, never looking him directly in the eyes.

"I'll be sure to remember that." She pushed her hair out of her face as she turned and headed toward the bathroom to clean up.

"Yeah, I'm sure." The Prince responded as she closed the door to the bathroom.

Bulma pressed her back to the door, and slowly eased herself down to the floor, her hands on her face. She was burning up, she felt like she was on fire. Whenever she had been that close to Yamcha, it was familiar, but Vegeta, she didn't know him. It was a different feeling, and Vegeta, though cocky, was extremely good looking. The Princess shook her head as she began to push the thoughts to the back of her mind, she hated it when she over thought the little things.

The Prince then sat on the bed and removed his shirt, it was then that he noticed a small mark at the shoulder of his sleeve, it was dark and charred. Had he slipped up during their little match? He was sure he didn't bend any fire and the shirt had been in perfect condition before. The Prince tossed the shirt in the corner, maybe he just failed to notice it earlier.

Vegeta let himself fall back on the bed, the past couple of days had been exhausting.


	3. Chapter 3

_Whoa I was gone for a long time! But I'm back and with more chapters for your reading needs. Now that me and my laptop a reunited I'll do my best to keep this updated. I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

The Prince's eyes had closed only for a second, or what felt like a second in sleep time, before he was woken up abruptly by the princess shaking him.

"Get up, your hand is bleeding." Bulma was sitting right next to him, his hand was on her lap as she gently removed the bandages. Vegeta was still in a daze, he forgot to take the appropriate care of his hand. The Prince's eyes flickered, "What are you doing?" he questioned although it was obvious.

"What's it look like I'm doing, I don't want you bleeding all over our sheets." Bulma focused her attention to his hand. Vegeta started to sit up. "Stay still." Bulma rested her hand on his shoulder, indicating for him to lie back down on the bed.

His hands were rough, calloused and they were big, Bulma's hand seemed like that of a child's in comparison. She removed the bandage revealing deep cuts in his palms, she dressed his wounds and bandaged his hand back up. During the whole process there was complete silence, Bulma looked down at Vegeta, his arm was drawn over his face.

Looking at him like this now, she could see all the well define cuts of his body. Vegeta was built, and Bulma could not help but indulge herself in the sight. His body wasn't smooth, it was rough with numerous scars and what looked like burn marks. There was one burn mark in particular that caught her eye, it stretched from the top of his right shoulder down to the top left of his pelvic bone. She wanted to touch it be refrained herself from doing so. She did, however, wonder why the Prince of the Fire Nation would have such battle scars.

The silence became suffocating, she hated it. It felt like all of the air had left the room preventing words to even come out of either one of their mouths. Somehow, she managed to push the words out to start a conversation.

"Do you want to know why…why I really wanted to learn the fire bending stances?" Bulma saw Vegeta flinch a little, as if he didn't expect her to speak or was surprised that she actually did. But, there was still silence, she continued anyway.

"Well, I like figuring out how things work. My parents never really let me even try to bend, so something about trying it out was a little liberating." A small smile tugged at her lips. "They never even gave me a chance to water bend, every time I tried they'd stop me concluding that I was a non bender."

Vegeta remained silent, but Bulma continued to speak. She needed this, she needed to talk to someone and he was technically her husband, so he might as well know a little bit about her. It wouldn't kill him, however, to contribute to the conversation, but finally he spoke and Bulma released a breath she wasn't even aware she was holding. Relief.

"So you don't even know whether or not you can bend?" Vegeta's arm was still over his face.

"Oh, I know I can't bend. I've tried, when my parents weren't looking. It wasn't much practice, and I never really had proper training. I just mimicked the little input I did have, and I couldn't bend water."

Vegeta's arm finally left his face and he turned to look at Bulma, who was unconsciously playing with his fingers.

"You shouldn't have to mimic someone else, it should come naturally. Have you ever just tried your own movements?"

"Well, no. Not really. But I'm sure it wouldn't matter either way, my parents said that I'm incapable of bending, and so far I have no reason to believe otherwise."

Vegeta sat up, his hand remained in hers. "So you never really tried? Because your parents said you couldn't? That's pretty stupid."

Bulma suddenly regretted wishing that he would contribute to the conversation, he was so obnoxious.

"Yeah, well when your parents have you on constant watch, it's kind of hard to fit in bending practice." Bulma retorted.

"Well, it sounds to me like your parents didn't want you to bend."

"Wow, aren't you perceptive?" She sounded a tad more sarcastic than she had intended. "I'm aware of that."

Vegeta became more concerned, why wouldn't her parents want her to bend? Bending definitely didn't prevent her from doing anything, so why not even give her a chance.

"When were you born?" Vegeta was staring deep into Bulma's eyes. She became extremely uncomfortable, what was with the sudden change in topic. His eyes were intense as if to force her to tell him the truth.

"Why does that matter?"

"Just answer the question."

"Well if you must know, it was at the first new moon of the blizzard season the start of the hunt, before the polarbear dog migration, two weeks after…after the Avatar was killed." Bulma wasn't sure how else to explain it, and she didn't want to any more.

After the Avatar died, or rather when he was murdered, difficult times fell on the water tribes, both the northern and the southern. All children born within a week's time after the Avatar's death, were killed. The Fire Lord did not want any future Avatar to ruin his plan, he figured he could end the cycle if he hadn't given the children a chance to mature and actually acquire the ability to bend.

"Hey." Bulma rose her head up in response but Vegeta was staring at her hands. She was gripping his hand hard in her own. She hadn't realized that it was effecting her so much, she didn't like showing emotions of weakness especially in front of the enemy.

'The enemy.' Bulma thought to herself. 'That's right. He's the enemy and so is Goku.' Bulma couldn't and wouldn't let herself be fooled.

The Princess released her grip on the Prince. "Sorry." He retracted his hand from her lap, it was there far longer than he was comfortable with.

A short silence once again resurfaced.

"Why is the Fire Nation doing this?" Bulma's face stern, looking for an answer, there had to be a reason.

Vegeta did not look in her direction, he knew the answer to this question was a simple one.

"Because fire burns, taking down everything in its path. Though now it may seem like unnecessary bloodshed, from the ashes of this old world a phoenix will arise bringing light to a new era." Vegeta memorized what his father had told him, this was always the answer and this was the code that Vegeta lived by. One day, after his father paved the way, Prince Vegeta would rise to lead a new generation, the generation of the Fire Nation. "All other nations must fall, for the fire nation to rise."

Vegeta never looked at Bulma because he was well aware that she could never understand, she was from the water tribe.

"What?! What kind of answer is that, it sounded like you were just reciting something out of a book. What gives the fire nation the privilege to decide everyone else's fate." Bulma hissed back at him.

"Everything is going according to plan so far, maybe it's just fate that all the other nations are destroyed. If it wasn't then it would not happen. If they could stop the fire nation then they would, but nations and tribes are falling left and right to the might of Fire Nation. The strong will always find a way to survive and the weak will perish." Vegeta was still calm, he knew how to answer these questions, the answers were drilled into him since he was a young boy.

"Then why am I here! You guys are going to kill me and my tribe, so what's the point of me being married to you? Is it for false hope, that somehow my people can make it out of this alive?!" The tears were coming and no matter how hard she tried to fight them back, the dam gave way under the pressure and she was crying, uncontrollably.

Unfortunately, this was the one question that Vegeta did not have the answer for, all he knew at the moment was that he should keep a close eye on her and if anything strange was to happen he was to immediately report it to the Fire Lord, his father.

"Stop crying." Vegeta responded irritated. Naturally, she didn't stop but simply rose from the bed and headed back toward the bathroom. She was sure she looked a mess, and she was angry, the people of the Fire Nation were truly heartless.

"If my crying bothers you that much, than why don't you just get rid of me! I hate this and I hate you!"

Goku's room was just on the other side of the hall, and he could hear that things had gone for the worse. His job was never truly done when it came to Vegeta, he could be so cold sometimes, inconsiderate of other people's feelings. The soldier rose from his bed, at this rate he wouldn't get any sleep tonight.

Goku knocked twice before entering the room. He saw a crying Princess and a thoroughly annoyed Prince.

"Hey, hey. What's the problem Bulma?" The Soldier approached the Princess, his hands were up as to show that he meant her no harm. Bulma glared at him through her tears, she didn't feel like being friendly with any of them.

"Just leave her alone. She having a hard time coming to terms with reality." Vegeta muttered.

Ignoring Vegeta, Goku took two more steps toward Bulma. "Relax. You can talk to me Bulma." Goku placed his hands on her shoulders, trying to make her feel comfortable, to have her relax.

"Stay away from me!" Bulma pushed both of her hands forward toward Goku's chest, reflexes took over him as he sidestepped her assault and flames shot forward from what seemed like her fingertips.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Bulma took in the scene around her. Flames that weren't coming from a fire bender but rather from her. To her right was Goku moving out of the way of her flames and to her left Vegeta had quickly risen from the bed, he was saying something but she couldn't hear him, not over the roar of her flames.

"Im-impossible." Bulma's voice wavered as she became terrified, she wasn't sure what was going on, she panicked and the flames only burned stronger, more out of control. She felt a stinging sensation biting at her fingertips, were they burning?

Vegeta saw that this situation was getting out of control and fast, he had to stop her. He gave Goku a quick look, ordering his soldier silently with the intensity of his eyes. Goku nodded in understanding. Vegeta darted behind Bulma while Goku lunged at her arms, grabbing her wrist tightly, numbing the feeling in her hands, Vegeta landed one swift chop towards the back of Bulma's neck, and the Princess quickly fell to her knees, then flat on the floor, unconscious.

XXX

Bulma woke up with a terrible headache, she looked around the room and realized that she was alone.

"Goku?" The Princess was met with silence. "Vegeta?" Still there was nothing, no response. The Princess ran her fingers through her hair, it was a habit, and every time she got nervous she'd need to touch something, do anything really. She kicked her feet from under the sheet and pulled herself out of her bed.

Bulma had just had the most horrible dream, she was fire bending and she couldn't control it. The flames spewed from her fingers, pushing themselves forward, searching for anything to grab on to and consume. Goku and Vegeta pushed forward to stop her, and then there was nothing but pain and then darkness. Complete and utter darkness, even though she was asleep, the darkness seemed to take hold of her, making it seem like she would never wake up.

Bulma shook her head and felt a sharp pain in her neck, she began to rub her neck forcing herself to look down. It was then that she noticed her knees were covered in bandages as well as on her hands. Her world began to fall apart as more of her 'dream' seemed like reality.

The Princess raced toward the door, clasping the knob in her hands and drawing the door open. She ran out, frightened that she was still in a dream. Blindingly, she ran into Vegeta, who seemed to be waiting just outside of her door. Goku was standing right next to him, dumbfounded.

"Hey, Bulma. How'ya feeling?" Goku looked generally concerned.

"Better yet, let's skip the meaningless questions and get right to the point." Vegeta was tense, almost angry.

"Wha-" Bulma was about to question but her arm was immediately seized by Vegeta, who jerk her body forward in his grasp. He was definitely angry.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!" He lifted Bulma's hand so it was now right in front of her face, small bandages laced around her fingertips. She didn't want to believe that her dream was a reality, and yet there it was staring her right in the face.

Goku did nothing, Vegeta always got angry when things didn't go according to plan.

"I don't know, I don't know." Bulma was on repeat, she was confused. "It just happened." Vegeta simply stared at her as if waiting for the truth. But something in her eyes made him believe her, she was shocked and clearly scared.

"Are you going to tell him?" Goku questioned.

"What?" Vegeta said confused as he scanned his wife head to toe.

"The Fire Lord, are you going to tell him?"

Vegeta let Bulma go, and she stumbled backwards, almost falling to the floor.

"Tell him what? There's nothing here that he needs to know." Vegeta looked back at Goku. "_Is_ there anything he needs to know, Goku?"

Goku shook his head, obviously Vegeta did not want his dad finding out what transpired there and Goku was far more loyal to Vegeta than he was to the Fire Lord.

"What are you thinking? Why won't you tell him?" Bulma questioned, nothing made sense since she left the wedding. "Why are you protecting me?"

Vegeta glanced back at her, his anger subsided. Finally, Vegeta had something in his hand, something that his father did not know about, an ace. The Prince folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Would you rather him kill you?"

"No, but that's not what I'm asking. I'm asking why would you protect me."

Vegeta turned away from her and headed down the hall.

"He likes you." Goku looked down at Bulma, smiling. "You're definitely not what he expected when he was told he was going to be marrying a girl from the water tribe."

Bulma looked back up at him. "I highly doubt that, that he likes me. Nobody here likes me and they never will."

"You haven't lost the war yet. There's still time, and I hear there just might be a new avatar to set everything right again." Goku gave her a wink and then darted off after Vegeta.

Bulma felt her stomach turn. '_new avatar'_ The words echoed in her head, and nothing made sense. The Princess fell to her knees and threw her hands over her head, as if to prevent the world from falling down on her. Nothing, absolutely nothing made sense in this world anymore. She wasn't a hero and she couldn't possibly be the avatar, she was a Princess not a fighter not the person who keeps the world in balance. There was no avatar, this wasn't right.

XXX

Goku was finally able to catch up to Vegeta, who was deep in thought.

"She told me she was born two weeks after the Avatar died, impossible." Vegeta was talking aloud, and he really did not need any of Goku's feedback, he just needed someone to listen. "There is something that she's not telling me, or that her parents never told her." Goku remained silent. "I'm not even sure if it's possible for your first element to not be of your own…it doesn't make any sense."

Vegeta stopped walking. "Goku."

The Soldier straightened out, "Hmm, Vegeta?"

"We're going on a little trip, just you, me, and the girl."

"Where to, exactly?"

"The Southern Water Tribe, I have some questions that are in dire need of answering. We leave tonight, make sure my father doesn't catch wind of any of this?"

"But what should I tell him before we go?" Goku was a terrible liar.

"Do I have to do all your thinking for you?! Tell him we're going on our honeymoon or something and you're just there for security reason, use your brain you idiot."

Goku was unfazed by the insult, that was just how Vegeta was. "Gotcha." The Soldier darted off into the east corridor to deliver the message.

Nothing bothered Vegeta more than unanswered questions. He had to know what was going on, and he had to do so in a manner in which his father never found out. Perhaps, he could change things, make them better suited for himself. Maybe.


	4. Chapter 4

_So I'll post another chapter tomorrow, or later today since you all had to wait. Honestly, I have all the way up to Chapter 7 done, I'm just not sure yet if that's the direction I want to go, any who enjoy, this chapter is a little "meh" but it had to be done. :)_

* * *

Both of the Fire Benders entered the room at the same time. Vegeta was clearly pissed and Goku obviously was not making him feel any better.

"I told you exactly what to tell him!"

"Yeah, but he insisted. I can't go against the Fire Lord, he'd burn me to a crisp." Goku was slightly panicked.

"Yeah, if you let him!"

"That's not even an argument Vegeta! Either they come with us or you're not going anywhere."

Vegeta turned toward Bulma and headed in her direction. "Pack your stuff, we're leaving."

Bulma looked up at him confused. "What? Where are we going?" She remained still unmoving.

"Just pack your stuff and ask questions later."

Bulma stayed where she was at. "Not until you tell me where we are going!"

"So be it." Vegeta walked briskly over to the dresser, her dresser, and began to draw out clothes at random, stuffing them into a bag. "Oh?" Was all Vegeta said as he pulled out a pair of lacey underwear.

The Princess felt a burning sensation in her face, "Fine! I'll pack just move!" She pushed past the Prince who was still holding the undergarment. "And give me that!" Bulma snatched the underwear from him. Water tribe women never wore garments like those, but leave it to Chi-Chi to make her a pair. Chi-Chi always kept herself up to date with the happenings of the world, and apparently these underwear would get Vegeta to do whatever she wanted him to. Bulma, of course, didn't believe it and yet she still took them with her to remember her ridiculous friend.

"Damn you Chi-Chi!"

Bulma threw some practical clothes in her bag and zipped it up.

"So where are we going?"

"Listen." Vegeta turned to the blunette, her eyes wide with curiosity, "We're going to the Southern Water Tribe," Bulma's eyes intensified she was clearly holding back her excitement. "But, we have to make a quick detour to Ember Island first."

"Ember Island? Why?" Goku was the one who questioned the Prince now.

"Because we have to get rid of Nappa and Raditz first and that's just the place to do it."

Bulma's leg began to shake with excitement.

"You better not be lying! You're not lying are you?" The Princess's voice went from anger to concern, she couldn't ruin this chance.

"I'm not lying, you just have to play your role efficiently"

"My role?"

"Yes, your role as my wife, be a lady and don't act foolish."

"Foolish?! I'm not your child Vegeta!"

Goku saw the irritation on Vegeta's face, it was time for him to step in.

"Hey, Bulma. What he's trying to say is try not to ruffle any feathers. We have two other people coming with us, and they if they get even the slightest bit suspicious then…"

"Then my father will have you killed." Vegeta interjected. "Now let's go we can't waste any more time."

The Princess stood silent as the Prince snatched her bag from her hand and threw it over his shoulder.

"Let's go."

The soldier nodded as he lifted his own bag and followed suit. Bulma was the last to leave the room, she was excited and nervous at the same time. Was he really taking her to the southern water tribe, the thought lingered in her mind, she simply had to shake it away and hope that all things went well and that she was really headed to her destination.

XXX

Two firebenders waited at the end of the hall, both slightly bowing their heads as Vegeta approached them and neither of them acknowledging Bulma.

"Prince Vegeta, if I may." The tall bald one reached for the Prince's bags, but he pulled away.

"I can carry my own stuff Nappa, but here you can hold hers." Vegeta tossed Bulma's bag over to Nappa, who reluctantly grabbed it and placed it under his arm.

"Oh right Nappa, that's your name! I feel like we got off on a bad start." Bulma was trying to approach him as friendly as possible, she didn't want to ruin this. "Maybe we could shake hands, and start over?" Bulma fully extended her hand toward him.

Nappa reached his hand over, yeah he'd shake her hand, nice and firm, hopefully crush a few bones if he could.

Vegeta watched closely, he knew Nappa, he knew him all too well to think that he was actually going to kiss and make up with Bulma.

"Nappa." Vegeta glared at the soldier. "I know you're a smart guy, aren't you? Don't do anything to upset me on this trip."

Nappa hesitated as he placed his hand in Bulma's and shook. Firm, but not painful, not how he wanted it to be.

"Hey, Raditz!" Goku tossed his bag at the other soldier who caught them. "Hold those for me for a sec, will ya?" Goku then began to stretch.

"What!? Goku carry your own crap!" Raditz swiftly dropped Goku's bag on the floor.

"Oh, come on what's the point in being brothers if you don't help me out sometimes?" Goku's glance then lingered to Bulma. "Hey, Bulma. This is my brother Raditz and he is very happy to meet you."

Bulma averted her attention to Raditz, he certainly did not look happy to see her. It was hard to believe that they had even been brothers. Raditz had extremely long black hair that passed his hips. His face was solid, and he appeared to have a permanent scowl.

"Nice you meet you Raditz." The Princess smiled a distant smile. She was trying her hardest not to look utterly disgusted.

"Right." Was all the soldier said before turning away from her at check on the Prince.

"This is going to be a long trip." The Blunette said to herself as Goku casually grabbed her by the shoulder. "Come on Bulma, try and be more optimistic. You're going to get to go on the journey of a lifetime."

Bulma smiled up at him, no matter how much she tried to hate Goku, she couldn't bring herself to do it. He had a very childlike innocence about him, he was carefree and extremely friendly.

"Fine. But if anything goes wrong I'm blaming it all on you."

XXX

The party of five had been walking for hours, Vegeta insisted on them not taking an airship because he didn't want to wait for one to be prepared. Plus, it would mean more than just the five of them would be going in on the trip.

Goku had taken off a little bit ahead of the group, while Raditz and Nappa were stationed to the right and the left of Vegeta and Bulma was trailing about five steps behind them. Bulma began to chuckle to herself, Vegeta always seemed taller than he actually was, maybe because he was always talking so big. However, in comparison to Nappa, who was a giant, he looked like the runt of the litter.

The Prince glanced back at her, what was so funny? He reached his arm out and gestured her to come to him. Bulma immediately stopped laughing and sped up her pace until she caught up to the Prince, who had now stopped walking.

"You two catch up with Goku, make sure he's not doing anything stupid."

Nappa spoke first, while Raditz turned his gaze toward Goku, who was at least a half mile in front of them. "I'm sorry Prince Vegeta but we have orders to keep you in sight at all times."

Raditz began to step in the direction of his brother, he knew Prince Vegeta well enough to just listen to what he said regardless of orders. As long as the Fire Lord wasn't there to see it than it didn't matter whether they kept an eye on him at all times or not.

"Fine." Vegeta placed his hand around Bulma's waist, pulling her in closer to himself.

Nappa immediately became uncomfortable and began to reconsider his orders. Something about seeing that woman next to the Prince made Nappa furious and he just couldn't be around it. There was no way that the Prince could have taken a liking to her already he had to be using her or something, it just wasn't right.

Bulma instantly began to blush, she was so embarrassed and she felt the heat burning in her cheeks. She instinctively hid her face, burying it into Vegeta's chest, which only made her feel even more exposed. The Prince pulled his other hand through her hair, the wavy strands of hair felt like silk through his fingers.

At this gesture Nappa hastily turned in pursuit of Raditz, looking at those two was awful, a firebender should never be with a woman of the water tribe. They were superior and she was scum, it bothered Nappa to his core to see Prince Vegeta caught up in this mess.

Vegeta released her as soon as Nappa and Raditz were a good distance away from them.

"Good. They're finally gone no-" It was then that Vegeta noticed that Bulma had turn away from him with her face in her hands.

"Warn a girl before you pull stuns like that!" Bulma was yelling in her hands, she knew that her face was still red from the encounter.

"What's the big, you act like you've never been next to a guy before…" Vegeta's voice began to trail off. "Wait have-"

"Don't. Don't you finish that question." Bulma lifted her face from her palms, and Vegeta noticed the pinkish tinge still lingering on her face. She was trying to look upset but she was more embarrassed if anything.

"Well this is surprising." A smirk appear on Vegeta's face. "Are you sure that you are the same girl who wanted to consummate our marriage the first night?"

"Oh shut up. Like I'd ever do THAT with you." Bulma began twirling her finger in her hair. "How much longer until Ember Island."

"Two more days on foot, and we should reach the border. After that a ferry should be able to get us there and we'll stop by the beach house to get cleaned up."

"Oh, okay." Bulma started forward. "Well I guess the sooner we get there the sooner we get to leave."

The pair was walking side by side in complete silence. She hated this silent tough guy bravado he always seemed to have on.

"Why did you send Nappa and Raditz away?"

"They're annoying. Eyeing me down like hawks, I don't need body guards."

"Well Goku's always around you, you don't seem to mind him."

"Goku's different."

"What's so different about him?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Well he's a nice guy, way different from the rest of you guys."

"Falling for him? He's available you know."

"Oh shut up. I don't like him like that, I'm just stating that he's nice, waaay nicer than you."

"Goku's not nice, he's just an idiot. There's a difference."

The two continued to walk in silence. Bulma glanced in Vegeta's direction and he looked back down at her.

"What?"

The blunette fiddled with her hair once again.

"There's something I've been meaning to ask you?"

Vegeta looked at Bulma, her eyes questioning almost concerned.

"Just spit it out already."

"That scar, on your chest. How'd you get it? I mean you don't have to tell me if you don't want to but it looks pretty bad."

Vegeta remained silent for a second before answering.

"Did I ever mention the rules of an Agni Kai, how one is won or lost?"

Bulma didn't speak, it felt like one of those questions that he'd answer himself anyway. She remained silent as he continued.

"After a challenge to an Agni Kai is accepted the two firebenders must duel it out, the winner is determined when that person manages to burn their opponent."

Bulma wasn't sure why, but she suddenly felt bad for asking. No matter how much she wanted to ask who he lost to, she decided maybe it was best to just leave it alone.

"Goku." Was all Vegeta said.

"Huh?"

"It was Goku, I know you want to know who did this, and it was him. He beat me." The words fell bitter off his lips. It was a long time ago, and he was sure he was over it but just remembering it made him angry, with himself. He had lost, to someone beneath him.

"Wow. Goku did that." Bulma had to check herself really quick. "I mean it's not that bad but, I thought you guys were friends. I'm sure he wouldn't do anything like that unless he had to."

It was a that moment Bulma and Vegeta heard Goku yelling in the distance, they both looked up to see a tiny figure waving it's hands in the air.

"We should get going." Vegeta said as he took lead, heading in the direction of the yelling.

XXX

Vegeta and Bulma managed to catch up with the rest of the crew.

"Look this is the perfect spot for us to set up camp." Goku smiled as he began to pulled supplies out of his bag.

It was a nice clearing just before a small forest filled mountain range. Bulma assumed that they'd have to get by that tomorrow in order to reach their destination. Bulma sat back on the floor, she hadn't realized how exhausted she really was until she sat down on the soft ground.

Vegeta approached Nappa and retrieved Bulma's bag and handed it to her. He then followed suit and began pulling some supplies out to set up camp.

Everyone began working on tents as Bulma sat to the side watching. She was going to offer to help but she figured they'd shoot her down anyway, so she just laid back and took in the scenery around them. The landscape was far different than anything she had ever seen in the southern water tribe, she hadn't really been taking in the scenery, but now that she was looking at it, it was gorgeous. There were plenty of trees and the landscape was a lush green. The mountain in the distance looked like a small green iceburg. Even the clouds seemed different, fluffier maybe.

"Hey, woman." It was Vegeta, why couldn't he just call her by her name.

The Princess rolled over on her stomach and looked up at the figure towering above her.

"The tent is ready, unless you'd rather lie out here on ground."

"It's actually quite relaxing, you should give it a try." Bulma patted the ground next to her, she had realized that there was no reason to be afraid of Vegeta, at least not right now. He needed her, he wanted her alive even though she wasn't sure of the reason why.

Vegeta sat down right next to the Princess, he propped his elbow on his knee and looked down at the Princess. She looked back at him over her shoulder.

"You never have views like this in the water tribe." She smiled at him but he turned away and looked straight ahead.

"Well it is a frozen tundra of nothingness."

"Ice isn't nothing, it's beautiful, like me." The Princess looked around, nowhere in particular.

"Who told you that?"

"Why do I need someone else to validate what I already know?" Bulma directed an intense glare toward Vegeta. "And for your information, someone did tell me that before but you wouldn't know him."

"Is that so? Then maybe you can introduce me when we get to the water tribe, since this mystery man has to be from there."

"Jealous?"

Vegeta completely ignored her. "It looks like it's about to rain, we should probably head to the tent and get some sleep."

"Rain never hurt anybody." Bulma sat up. "I'll be in there in a minute, I just want to take in a little more of the scenery, if that's okay with you?"

"Fine, sit out here alone in the dark if you want to." Vegeta entered his tent and all of his soldiers did the same. Bulma was sitting outside, alone.

Bulma stayed outside for another thirty minutes.

"What a bunch of idiots." Bulma smiled as she grabbed her bag and darted off, headed south. One thing Bulma was good at was land navigation, as long as she knew where the sun had set or where it risen, than she would always know where home was.

XXX

It had been quite some time since the Princess had made a sound, Vegeta decided that she would just have to take in the scene in the morning, she needed to sleep now if they were to get up bright and early.

The Prince stepped out of his tent and noticed that the Princess was nowhere to be seen.

"I… am an idiot."

Vegeta couldn't wake the others, he'd have to go after her alone and bring her back before sunrise. The Prince was so furious he could have burned the whole area down, a small wisp of fire escaped his mouth as he let out an irritated grunt.

This was it, that woman had officially pissed Vegeta off and she was going to regret it as soon as he found her. He looked around for any indication of the direction she had took off in. However, the Prince soon realized the obvious answer.

"South."


	5. Chapter 5

_And here it is! Chapter 5! Not much to say about this one, but it's probably one of my favorite chapters so far. So, I hope you all like it as much as I do!_

* * *

Bulma had sprinted for a good five minutes but she quickly realized that she's not as physically fit as she thought she was. She slowed her pace to a slow but steady jog for the last thirty minutes. She looked back, she was a good ways away from the campsite.

She decided to take a quick rest at a stream up ahead. She splashed some water on her face, it was cool and refreshing, just the pick me up she needed to finish this voyage. She dipped her canteen into the water, trying to fill it up as much as possible, she couldn't be sure when her next encounter with water would be. The distance between the Fire Nation to the Southern Water Tribe was a great one.

The blunette grabbed her bag and pushed forward, but was immediately cut off by a great blaze of fire.

_Damn_

The Princess slowly turned around to see Vegeta standing about fifty meters away from herself. He looked angry, angrier than usual, and for good reason she supposed.

"Listen, Vegeta. I get that you're mad, but, you have to understand where I'm coming from. I don't want to go to Ember Island, I want to go home."

"Are you an idiot?! I am taking you home!" Vegeta began forward, his eyes darker than usual, which was strange considering he just lit the shrubbery behind her in an intense wild burning flame.

Bulma took a step back, she immediately felt the heat press against her back as she felt a tinge of fire lick at her hands. There was literally nowhere for her to go, Vegeta was fast approaching and the fire blocked her from behind.

The Princess then turned to face the flames, she'd had to try, this was literally her only option. She push both her hands forward and pulled them away from each other, with that motion the flames peeled away, opening a path for her to take.

Vegeta was right, bending had to come natural or maybe her body knew she was in deep trouble and she needed to get out of there.

Bulma leapt through the flames and ran forward. Vegeta snickered, as he pursued after her with great speed.

They were running downhill, and Bulma could hear Vegeta right at her heels. Bulma attempted to speed up but ended up tripping over her own feet.

Everything seemed to be happening so slow for a moment, Bulma's body was falling forward for a second and right before she made impact with the floor, she felt a tug at her hips. Vegeta had grabbed her and managed to maneuver himself between her and the ground, shielding her as they both tumbled down the hill.

The blunette's body was wrapped tight in the Prince's arms, as he tried to protect her from the rocks and tree logs that were littered throughout the forest. It felt like forever before they reached the bottom.

At first Bulma was dazed, all the spinning and banging from the fall had her out of it for a second. She gripped her arm, she felt a sharp pain resonating from her shoulder, a small slither of wood managed to dig into her skin.

"Look what you did Vegeta! You should have just let me go!" She was turned away from the Prince as she pull the wooden piece from her skin. There was no response, the Princess looked back, she was definitely expecting an answer.

His head was turned away from her, his arms laid limp at his sides. His eyes were closed, and for once in his life, he didn't look like he was about to kill her, he looked like he was sleeping.

"Vegeta?" The Princess began to shake his shoulders. "Vegeta?!"

There was no response, so she proceed to place her ear to his chest. He was definitely breathing, Bulma sighed in relief, she could not be responsible for the death of the Fire Lord's son.

It began to rain. Great, just what she needed and unconscious Prince and heavy wet clothes. She'd need to find shelter for the night.

Bulma looked down at the Prince, this was the perfect time to make her escape, Vegeta was out of commission and this rain would not make it easy for them to track her down.

As she turned away to leave him, Bulma had a terrible feeling deep down in the pit of her stomach. She couldn't just leave him there, not after what he just did for her, it was wrong.

"Dammit, Bulma. Why do you have to have a conscience?" Bulma said to herself as she looked around for a place for them to camp out. "Wait here." She said as if he had a choice.

Bulma found a small nook that had been formed by a fallen tree and rocks. The rain was light at first but then began to come down heavier and heavier.

She began to drag the Prince into the small alcove, by the time they reached the destination she was covered in mud and so was he. Earthbending or waterbending would be super useful right now.

XXX

Bulma sat there just staring down at the Prince. "Why couldn't you just let me go?"

"Because if I did, you'd surely be killed. You and your family, my father is not a forgiving man."

Bulma gasped, alarmed she hadn't expected him to come to so quick. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Vegeta began to sit up, but a sharp pain seized his arm causing him to fall back on the ground. "Damn. I think my arm is broken."

"Your arm is broken?!" Panic filled the princess as she began to eye her husband up and down. He was riddled with scars and she only had a small cut on her shoulder. "What are we going to do? We need a healer, but I can't bend water, and your arm, it's broken! You would think that I could, considering how much I watched other people do it."

"Okay, shut up. I get it you're completely useless." Vegeta used his other arm to lift his body up, he looked over at Bulma, who had actually shut up when he told her to. That was concerning considering she was not that type of woman, the type to listen to orders without putting up a decent fight.

"You're right, I am. I mean, how is someone like me even allowed the privilege to be **the **Avatar? It's ridiculous. The spirits definitely messed up somewhere."

"I completely agree." Vegeta stared his wife clean in the eyes. "Here I am, with cuts and bruises all over my body, a broken arm, and now I have to listen to you explain to me why you're useless. Believe me, I don't need an update."

Bulma returned his glance. "You know you can come off as an ass, Vegeta. I am trying to figure out how I can help you and here you are bashing me for it."

"If you want to help me why don't you actually try and do something, instead of sitting there complaining."

"And what am I supposed to do, exactly."

"Something, anything would be nice!"

"Hey don't yell at me! Nobody asked for your help back there."

"Noted."

The rain was not letting up. "I mean, I guess I've seen it enough times to give it a try."

"What?"

"The healing technique stupid, the one water benders use. There is more than enough water to utilize."

The blunette stuck her hands out in the rain, she felt each and every cool droplet hit her with a small heavy impact. She twinkled her fingers.

_Come on Bulma, it's water, that's basically your natural habitat! Listen here water do as your master commands, bend dammit._

Vegeta could see that she was struggling simply by the look on her face. She looked constipated, her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were closed tight. She was clenching and releasing her hands, she looked like a complete fool.

"You're trying too hard." Vegeta interjected.

"Shh. I'm trying to concentrate." Her eyebrow was twitching.

"Well, what I'm trying to tell you is that you're doing it wrong."

Bulma dropped her hands to her sides. "Okay Master Waterbender Vegeta, what do you suggest I do?"

"When you bend you're either in trouble or emotional, your bending skills seem to come from your emotions rather than brute force."

"Emotions? Hmm." She closed her eyes once again. She had to see healing him in a new perspective, what if it was her sister Tights here who was hurt. What if she had to help her sister, she couldn't be this useless, she'd have to help her do something.

Bulma's hands began to pull at the water, her eyes were still closed, if she had opened them it would have ruined the image of saving her sister. Soon, Bulma felt as if her body was moving itself. Her arm was fully extended into the rain but she no longer felt the droplets, at least not on her skin. She felt the pressure of the water, but not the wetness of it. It was almost like the sensation of heat without actually getting burned.

Vegeta sat just watching the scene unfold in front of him. She looked troubled and absolutely beautiful at the same time. She had the look of someone who had something they needed to protect, a look of resolution and conflict. She was completely in her element, her body was totally different from that time she bended fire.

"Tights where are you?" Bulma was completely caught up in her mind. She washed out the actual situation and replaced it with her own.

Vegeta reached out and grabbed her wrist, directing it to his own injured arm and with her eyes still closed she began a figure eight motion over the injury. Her hands danced over his arm, as she stared intently on it behind closed lids.

Instead of watching the mastery of her hands, Vegeta's glare stayed on her face. She was dirty, mud was riddled through her hair and on her face. And even though they were in this dark makeshift housing, her turquoise hair shined through. As her eyes opened, he couldn't help noticed that they too, were shining, as if she was about to cry.

"Better?" Bulma asked in a voice that was barely a whisper. Vegeta was just looking at her, as if he was just seeing her for the first time. "Hello? How's your arm feeling?"

Vegeta snapped out of it. "It's fine, I'm fine." He turned his head away as he leaned back on the wall formed from stone in the nook.

"Are you sure, at least try moving it." Bulma reached for his arm but he pulled away.

"I said I'm fine, see."

Bulma sat back in relief. "I guess I'm not completely useless." She looked up at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I guess not." He responded.

Bulma began to shiver, she was just realizing how cold it was getting in there. She wrapped her arms around her body in an effort to keep some of her body heat in.

"Cold?" Vegeta questioned.

"Yeah, kind of. Usually, the cold doesn't bother me, but being soaking wet makes it ten times worse." Plus she wasn't properly dressed in the first place, these fire nation clothes were practically useless for cold weather.

"Come sit next to me."

"Huh? Why? You're not thinking anything perverted are you."

"No. You idiot, just get over here." Vegeta grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. "Sit here."

Bulma was sitting side by side with Vegeta, there arms pressed together. Vegeta opened his hand revealing a small flame. "This should keep us warm until the rain lets up and we can change out of these clothes."

Bulma watched as the flame burned bright in his hand, it was actually very still and controlled, far different than any bending she had ever seen Vegeta do. She inadvertently, let her head rest on his shoulder, she was tired.

Vegeta didn't move, instead he let her rest there as he held onto the fire, but he soon found himself just as tired as her. He put out the fire and reached into her bag, pulling out a small jacket and placing it around her. His head fell naturally on top of hers and he dozed off into a deep slumber.

XXX

Goku had woken up first, he typically tried to get a workout with Vegeta in the early morning before he decided to take on his day.

Goku quickly got dressed and headed toward Vegeta's tent.

"Hey, Vegeta." There was no response. "Bulma?" Goku raised an eyebrow, Vegeta was not one to put of training, not even in these circumstances. "I'm coming in."

Goku pulled back the flap of the tent and was shocked to see nobody there. "Oh come on Vegeta." The soldier put his hand to his head, he was appointed to his position to make sure that stuff like this never happened. There was no choice no he'd have to go look for them. Goku backed out of the tent, he couldn't let the others know that the Prince was M.I.A.

"Goku."

The soldier was caught trying to creep away from the camp grounds. He turned around to see his brother standing at the edge of Vegeta's tent.

"Oh, hey Raditz. What are you doing up so early?"

Raditz simply turned and looked inside of the Prince's tent.

"Where's Prince Vegeta?"

"What? Isn't he in his tent."

"Goku stop playing games with me, you know damn well he's not in here."

"Shh Raditz, you're going to wake Nappa."

Raditz approached Goku, "The last thing I'm worried about is making sure Nappa gets his beauty sleep!"

"Are you sure, because he kinda needs it." Goku responded.

Raditz shook his head. "Let's just go find him, you're giving me a headache."

"Right."

XXX

The brothers headed into the forest, there had been some obvious indication that Vegeta had passed through here. Looking at the charred ground alone gave that fact away instantly. If Vegeta was angry enough he could bend without even wanting to.

Looking at the ground covered in the burnt tinder, Vegeta had been running up until the point of a small river. There was a crescent shaped burn mark on the ground, obviously used to keep someone cornered in.

"Geez, Vegeta, what did you do now?"

"Look, this way." Raditz pointed downhill, someone or something had clearly been through there recently, and quite recklessly too. "Let's go." Goku nodded and followed his brother, deep into the shattered forest.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hey guys, I haven't updated in forever but her you go. I love writing this story, don't get me wrong. I've just been busy, sorry. But know that there are many more chapters to go. It's actually gotten really dark in future chapters, I hope you like it. I don't own dbz or atlab. _

* * *

The brothers ran deep into the forest, following the charred forestry around them. "Vegeta must be pretty pissed off to leave the forest looking like this."

Goku nodded. "Or maybe Bulma is…" Goku whispered to himself.

"What was that?" Raditz responded.

"Oh nothing! Heheh" The young warrior said nervously.

The older brother halted in his tracks. "Goku you've been acting strange, what's going on?" He eyed his brother down.

"What are you talking about Raditz, I'm acting normal." A nervous grin spread across his face.

"No you're not, none of you are!" Raditz approached his brother. "You and Prince Vegeta are up to something and you better tell me what that is now, younger brother."

"Seriously, Raditz there's nothing going on. It's just weird, you know, with a woman around. It just takes a little adjusting to, is all."

Raditz rose an eyebrow. "Really, you two are so immature!" Raditz continued down the path and Goku followed, relieved that his excuse actually worked.

XXX

"The path ends here." The two brothers scanned the area looking for the lost royalty.

"Over there!" Goku pointed to a small alcove. "They could be in there." The brothers approached the entrance and peeked in.

"Vegeta?"

"Vegeta!" said Raditz immediately after his brother. The sight that was before him was one he never thought he'd see, at least not so soon into the marriage.

The Prince snapped up, "Raditz, why the hell are you screaming!?"

The soldier composed himself. "My apologizes Prince Vegeta, but if you don't mind me asking…. What are you two doing out here?"

"That's none of your concern, Raditz." The Prince stood up and began to dust himself off, although it really didn't make a difference. He turned toward Bulma and extended his hand. "Let's go."

Bulma accepted his help, placing her hand in his and pulling herself up.

The group headed back toward the camp site.

"Hey, you guys don't mind me washing up at that river up ahead?"

Vegeta glared back at her. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

She pouted. "Vegeta I'm gross you're gross-er, we can both go if it bothers you that much. Just no peaking."

"Yeah, right as if peaking at you had any benefits."

"Ugh, whatever. Do you want to wash up or not?"

"Fine. Goku bring me some clothes we'll be right here washing up. Raditz you go with him."

"Yes, Prince Vegeta."

The two soldiers started back toward the camp and the two newlyweds began to undress, their backs were facing one another.

"Stay close, I don't want to have to chase you down again."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I won't be going anywhere since I clearly can't out run you." Bulma started toward the stream, the water only came up to her waist.

Vegeta was next to enter the stream, his back was still toward her.

"So, Vegeta. Why exactly are we doing this, I mean going to the Southern Water Tribe? What purpose do you have there? You don't intend to hurt my people, do you? The Fire Nation has already done its share of damage to my people."

She splashed water on her face and body, it felt good to feel the dirt leave her body.

"I'm not going there to hurt anybody, I just have some questions."

"What kind of questions? Because if it's about me being the Avatar I can assure you that my people have no idea that it's me, I mean I just found out now."

"I don't think that's one hundred percent true, woman. I think that your people or rather your parents knew about you and I just have some questions for them."

The blunette got worried. Vegeta was not a gentle man, what would he do to her family if they didn't give him the answers that he wanted? She glanced over her shoulder to see the Prince pouring water on his hair with cupped hands. She immediately regretted this decision.

He had a firm strong back and his body was very well defined. She didn't know how to explain it, he had cuts as if he were chiseled by the spirits themselves, it felt like a sin just looking at him this way. She'd honestly never seen a man quite in this light before. She felt her cheeks burning and quickly turned away.

"Woman?" Vegeta gazed back to see if she was still there, she had been far too quiet for far too long for his comfort. She typically always had something to say.

"Hey! Don't look over here you perv!" The blunette splashed water clear into his face, she then sank down so that only her shoulder and up were seen above water.

"Well then, answer me next time I call you, idiot! Like I said, I don't want to have to chase you down again!" Vegeta scowled and turned back around.

"Hey, Vegeta! I got you some clothes!" Goku was yelling from afar, he didn't want to get to close and see anything he wasn't supposed to see.

The Prince left the stream and began toward Goku's voice.

"Stay put! I'll be right back in the meantime why don't you get dressed as well, we don't have all day."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Prince Vegeta."

"Tch." Was all he murmured before walking away from the Princess and towards the sound of the voice.

Bulma knew that the Prince wasn't too far but he was far enough not to see her change into some fresh clothes. She wasn't sure how soon he'd be back so she put on some clothes quick, luckily for her, her bag didn't get too wet, so her clothes inside were in perfect condition.

The Princess walked back to the river and started playing with the water in her hands. She was able to water bend before and she loved the feeling, she wanted to feel that feeling again. Something about bending water was soothing for her, she wasn't sure if it was because she is a native of the water tribe or if this is how every Avatar felt.

She waded her hands in the water and closed her eyes, the water felt so nice.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Bulma's eyes snapped open and she had realized she was bending once again, her hands were enveloped in water.

The Prince quickly approached her grabbed her by the arm and rose her to her feet. She lost control of the water and it quickly fell to a puddle at her feet.

"Are you stupid or something? Do you want people to find out that you're a bender, carelessness like this and everyone will find out what…who you truly are."

Bulma snatched herself away from him. "What are you so afraid of? That your stupid fire nation body guards find out I'm the Avatar!"

"Don't say shit like that aloud, woman! You truly are stupid, do you know what would happen to you if said body guards found out?!"

"Absolutely, nothing! I'm the Avatar, they'd be too scared to do anything to me, if they're smart they'd run away scared."

"You're impossible! If only you could hear yourself speak, you'd understand my frustration."

"Yeah, you sound completely stupid, blue. If I found out you were the Avatar, I'd kill you on the spot." A voice said in the distance.

Both Vegeta and Bulma turned toward the sound of the voice and standing about 100 meters away was Raditz.

"Shit." Vegeta looked back at the blunette. "Run." Was all he said before turning around and engaging Raditz.

Bulma was frozen. She was really feeling herself after being so successful in all her recent attempts at bending that she truly did believe that her capabilities would be far beyond that of anyone in the fire nation. She's the Avatar and when she was arguing with Vegeta, she equated being the Avatar to being invincible. But looking at the two fire benders go at it made her realize how far out of her league they truly were.

"Prince Vegeta! I beg you to stop this nonsense and hand her over to the Fire Lord." Raditz blocked another one of Vegeta's blows.

"Like hell I will. My father has enough power in his hands right now, I will not give him the Avatar."

Every time Raditz thought he had a clear shot on the Prince he would be caught by Vegeta's never ending assault, the Prince was skilled.

It was then that Raditz noticed that the woman never left, he decided to direct his attention to her, Vegeta wasn't the enemy here, he was clearly being manipulated by this woman.

Raditz took a few steps back, away from the Prince and began to conjure lightening.

"Don't be foolish, Raditz. It's too easy for me to redirect that right back at you."

"I know." The soldier let off a strong bolt of electricity that zoomed clear past the Prince and towards Bulma, who was finally snapping back to reality.

She let out a loud scream as a tall figure stood in front of her, catching the lightening and redirecting it back in Raditz direction. Tears were rolling down her face, she could never be ready for fights of this caliber.

"Bulma! Are you alright?" It was Goku.

Bulma just looked at him behind tears.

"Bulma, please answer me. You're okay aren't you?"

She nodded in agreement and threw her arms around him.

"Bulma you have to leave, run. I'll tell Vegeta to catch up with you. You'll be safe." Goku pulled her away.

Vegeta's glare moved from the Bulma and her savior back to Raditz, who was now recovering from the shock sent to him by his brother, who obviously downed the voltage so he didn't get too hurt. "That was a cheap trick, Raditz."

"It's my job to protect you Prince, this woman is a threat to all that the Fire Lord, your father, has worked for."

"He is no father of mine."

"Now's not the time for you and your daddy problems, Prince Vegeta. You're digging yourself into a hole and you're bringing my brother down with you! I cannot allow this."

Goku walked up to Vegeta's side. "Vegeta, leave this to me I'll handle it from here."

Vegeta looked up at him. "You sound stupid, when have I ever backed down from a fight?"

Goku laughed. "It's not that, but I'm afraid that you might end up killing my brother and I can't allow that to happen. Plus, the Princess needs you."

Vegeta kept his eyes on his target. "Fine, I'll leave him to you." Vegeta stood up and began after Bulma.

Raditz stood back up. "Come on, younger brother. Don't go against the will of the Fire Lord, Prince Vegeta may get some lenience for his actions, but you brother, will not. Think very carefully about what you're doing here."

Goku's face was intense. "My loyalty falls to Prince Vegeta before the Fire Lord, always." Goku ran forward toward his brother and swung at him with a mighty blazing fist.

XXX

Bulma could still hear the cackling of the fire fight that she left behind her. She was running blindly, she had really done something stupid, the one chance she had to go home to her family safely, she had to screw up.

She tripped on a branch and fell to her knees, and there she cried, hard. Something about falling while you're already crying, just made you feel that much more pathetic and sad.

Vegeta caught up with her, he saw her there on her knees, with her head in her hands, crying. Spirits, how he wished that Goku was her to deal with this crying woman, she'd probably prefer that anyway. He began to approach her slowly.

The Princess turned around to the sound of the brush cracking under the weight of the Prince.

"You're going to kill me aren't you? I'm not worth the stress, Spirits, I have never felt so dumb in my life."

"I'm not here to kill you, although, you are way more trouble than you're actually worth." The Prince stood right next to her. "Get up, we have to get further away from here, eventually the royal fleet will be after us, and we have to make it to the Southern Water Tribe before they do."

Bulma's eyes widened. "Why would they go there? Don't they think that we're going to Ember Island?"

Vegeta looked down at her. "What better way to get the Avatar to surrender than to attack the thing that she cares about the most?"

"You're fighting a losing war, Vegeta. Why go with me instead of just getting rid of me back there, what's your agenda?" The blunette questioned as she wiped her face off.

"We can make you stronger, turn you into an avatar that would put all the previous ones to shame." He totally ignored her question, and she didn't have the energy to point it out. All the princess wanted to do now was wake up from this nightmare.

"Let's go." Vegeta said as he reached out to her as to help her up off the ground.

"I'm tired, Vegeta. I can't run anymore."

"Fine." Vegeta bent down on one knee and lifted the Princess off of the ground. "I guess I'll just have to run for the both of us."

Bulma pulled herself in closer to his body, for some strange reason she felt safer than she had ever felt before. Even though her current company was far from pleasant, at least she wasn't alone.

XXX

He'd put Raditz down for the count, and Goku thought it would be best to go after the Prince. There was a war coming and he knew that Vegeta would need more man power. If the Avatar doesn't realize her full potential soon, they all could be up to a pretty intense fight, and the odds were not in their favor.

The soldier dashed off into the direction in which the couple left. He tried to cover the tracks that they left behind. He'd stop every couple of meters to throw some fire around, down different paths in order to confuse their pursuers.

"Man, Vegeta. I really hope you know what you're doing here."

XXX

"I'm sorry." The Princess sat by the fire warming her hands. "I ruined everything back there, it's just that, I'm not sure I know what it means to be the Avatar."

Vegeta sat down next to her. "Well it doesn't mean you're invincible and that you can pick fights with whoever you want."

"Vegeta, maybe if you told me what exactly it is that you are trying to do with me, I'd be a little less on edge."

"You have to trust me."

"Come on, Vegeta! I can't trust you, I'm sure you understand why? Every morning I wake up, I do so in fear. I don't know what you want and I don't know what your agenda is. Maybe if you shed just a little light on my current situation, I could worry less about our actual destination being some sort of water nation concentration camp." She paused. "I'm scared, Vegeta, and you've given me no reason to feel otherwise."

The Prince let out a huge sigh.

"You're very persistent." He looked over at her, eye to eye. "I need you to take down my father."

-TBC-


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own DBZ or ATLAB. Enjoy!

Chapter 7

* * *

The blunette was taken aback.

"You need me to what? There's no way I can do that!"

"No shit! Like I'd ever have you go against my father, you wouldn't last 2 seconds." The Prince laughed, his father was way out of her league.

She pushed him.

"Hey, don't play around like that, I almost took you serious for a second."

"Yeah well, let's just say I don't want my father to have you. He sent me a letter, maybe you know about it considering that you were eavesdropping on the conversation when I got it."

The blunette rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"He had suspicions about you, he just wants me to keep an eye on you. That's not like him, why would he go from trying to kill you to trying to keep you alive. It doesn't make any sense."

"Okay, so why not just turn me over when you found out, what I am?"

"Because my father doesn't deserve the throne, if he has you he'll use you to his advantage."

"And what exactly are you doing different?"

"We can always go back if you want, if you like my dad as the Fire Lord so much."

"I guess you'd make a slightly better Fire Lord, IF your agenda isn't to destroy everything but the Fire Nation."

"I can guarantee you that it's not."

"Good" The blunette smiled at the Prince. "So what do we do now? Things aren't exactly going according to plan."

"Now we wait, Goku should be here within an hour or so."

"Hm." She paused. "Let's go, fishing."

"Fishing?"

"Yes, fishing we've pretty much left all of our stuff behind, we'll have to eat to have any energy to get to the Southern Water tribe." The Princess stood up and patted the dirt off her clothes. "Come on, Vegeta."

With a groan, the Prince stood up and followed close behind the Princess.

XXX

They started a fire, cooking the catch that they acquired. Bulma was far more skilled at fishing than Vegeta, at this rate he was going to starve. He looked down at the small shrimp anchovies he managed to catch, maybe he was actually skilled at fishing because it had to be a talent to catch fish this small.

Vegeta glanced over at Bulma who managed to catch quite a few bullfish.

"Don't worry, I'll share." The blunette said while obviously holding back a laugh.

"Yeah, you better. I could be eating an actual meal right now if it weren't for you."

"Hey, don't blame me for your apparent lack of survival skills." She handed him some fish.

The two ate in silence. Bulma looked over at the Prince and could see that by the look on his face that he was in deep thought.

"Having second thoughts?" The Princess questioned.

She snapped him out of his current train of thought. "Something like that." He looked over at her. "None of this is going according to plan, I'm trying to piece something together and no matter how I try, I don't see us making it to the Southern Water Tribe."

Bulma's heart dropped she had one chance to see her family again and she had to screw it up, she couldn't help the look disappointment that fell on her face.

"Perhaps…we could still…"

"No! We can't, woman. If you haven't noticed we're in the middle of nowhere, miles away from the Southern Water Tribe and on top of that Goku hasn't made it here yet. I highly doubt he let Raditz or Nappa beat him but he's been caught, I can feel it."

Bulma lost all hope and just sat there watching the fire cackle and burn in front of her, until she heard a sound in the distance, a whirring noise that she had now become accustomed to.

"Airships…" She whispered. "Well that took no time at all."

Vegeta stood up. "We have to surrender…" The Prince couldn't help but be angry, this trip could have been flawless and here he was in the most trouble he'd ever been it. He had to wonder if it was all really worth it.

Soon the ship soared above them, lights scanning the area before they locked on the newlyweds standing near a small fire. Ropes began to drop from the ship in which some soldiers used to exit the ship while others used their fire bending skills to navigate through the air.

One soldier flew himself straight to the Prince while the others secured the area, pulling 360 security of their current location.

"Prince Vegeta." The soldier looked at the couple. "Your father is far beyond displeased with you."

Bulma got a good look at the soldier, he bore a striking resemblance to Goku, except he had a decent sized cross shaped scar on his cheek and he was obviously older.

"Let's just get this over with, General." Vegeta beckoned for Bulma to follow him.

"Prince Vegeta, you're already walking on egg shells with me. You may be a Prince but let's not forget to be respectful of our elders, it's gotten you in trouble more than once."

Vegeta turned and looked at the General. "Understood, General Bardock." He turned back around and headed toward the now landed ship.

XXX

Vegeta was surprised that he was just guided to his room instead of reprimanded as soon as he got on the ship. But soon and without any warning Raditz came bursting into their room, Goku followed close behind him.

"You bastard! You spoiled, rotten piece of shit!" Raditz yelled as he came into the room.

Bulma was shocked, she never thought she would hear anyone speak to Vegeta like that. He was clearly shocked as well.

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Raditz?!"

"You! How dare you get my brother, my family caught up in your stupid little plans to go to the Southern Water Tribe with the Avatar!" He pointed viciously at the blunette.

Vegeta looked at Goku who obviously told Raditz the truth about their little trip.

"Raditz, keep your voice down before you get us all in trouble!" Goku responded

Bulma assumed that they were in trouble already, but clearly they weren't.

Raditz took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "I had to lie for you, even though the spirits know that I sure as hell didn't want to." His voice was a low growl.

"Then why did you, nobody asked for your assistance." Vegeta retorted.

"Are you dense?! If I told anyone the truth Goku would have been the one in trouble, I will not allow you to take my brother down with you." He pushed his hands through his hair. "I can't even look at you right now, putting that woman above the well-being of my brother, my dumbass brother who's stood at your side no matter what. He could be killed for helping you with this and you don't give a damn." The anger was building up all over again. "Goku, please fill the Prince in on the story, I can't even stand being in the same room with him right now."

Raditz stormed out and slammed the door behind him, causing a portrait of the Fire Lord to fall from the wall.

Goku sighed as he turned and looked at the Prince.

"Well, I beat Raditz but Nappa heard the commotion and I was trying to cover your tracks but it was taking too much time and they both caught up with me." Goku scratched the back of his head. "My brother told me that a fleet was already sent out to find you guys and that I didn't have to look anymore. So I was confused but Raditz continued to assure me that everything was okay, so I just went with it. When we were alone he told me the story he came up with, me and him got into a fight over how he thought he should be the one protecting the Prince…well you because I'm too careless, and when we started fighting Bulma got scared and ran off and you chased after her and essentially got lost in the wilderness." Goku let out a breath.

Bulma noticed that Goku looked slightly down, something she was had never seen before.

"He's taking all the blame, I feel bad." Goku looked at Vegeta who didn't share his concern.

"Your brother is right."

Goku looked questionably at the Prince. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that if somethings go wrong, like today, you could be killed." Vegeta sighed. "You're lucky to have a brother like that." Bulma heard a hint of jealousy in Vegeta's voice.

Bulma could feel the tension in the room. "Perhaps, we should all get some sleep."

"Perhaps we should." Vegeta was stressed, he hated this and he did not need Raditz knowing their little secret, although, he doubted that the soldier would say anything.

XXX

The moon shown bright into the room and no matter how hard she tried to sleep, she couldn't. She felt Vegeta shift in the bed, she looked over to see him now sitting at the edge of the bed. His head was in his hands and he was clearly stressing out about something.

"Can't sleep?" The Princess asked as she too, sat up in the bed.

"I'm fine, you should probably get some sleep though, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

Bulma crawled over to his side of the bed and sat on the edge next to Vegeta. "It's kind of hard to sleep with someone stressing out so much next to you."

He looked over at her. "That's right, you never personally met my father." His father left immediately after the second ceremony and didn't even attend the first.

"He can't be all that scary."

"He's trying to take over the world, or perhaps you forgot."

Bulma sighed, he was right. "Well, let's try to keep our minds off it." She stood up and grabbed Vegeta's hands pulling him up. "Perhaps we can do something to distract ourselves. I mean, you like to train and I'm willing to learn whatever it is you have to teach."

Vegeta was going to object but he figured he'd just stress himself out even more if he kept sitting there thinking about how he was going to address his father.

"Fine. But you're beyond the first level stages of fire bending. I'll teach you something that only Goku and I know."

"Wow, that's quite the honor." Bulma said sarcastically.

"Shut up and listen." The Prince straightened out his posture. "It's called the Dancing Dragon."

"I didn't take you for a dancer, Vegeta."

"I thought I told you to shut up."

Bulma pouted. "So rude."

He continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"Now, to be performed correctly, it requires two people. First, I'm going to teach you each stance and the count between the transitions. Then, you need to know the distances between each move as we both form a perfect circle. All ten stances must be performed correctly." He looked her deep in the eye. "Are you getting all of this?"

She nodded. "Sounds complicated."

"Not really. Here let me show you the first move." His arms were fully extended upward, one of his legs was raised. "Now you have to mirror me, so stand in front of me." She did.

"Well this is pretty silly looking**"**

"Follow me." He assumed a low position, pushing his right foot out.

Bulma followed through with the same move, flawlessly. Vegeta watched her closely as she quickly managed to successfully execute each move. He picked up his pace, and she followed along.

The couple was side by side performing each move, effortlessly. He turned slightly and she turned in the opposite direction, they were both back at the first stance.

"A perfect circle. You ready?"

"A perfect circle, got it." She smiled and began the dance.

Each move was strong but also smooth, she moved as he moved, and she could feel "it". She wasn't quite sure what this feeling was but she was excited, and her muscles just remembered the dance as if she had done it a hundred times before.

Each move felt stronger than the last, it felt good to perform. They both halted at the final stance.

"Outstanding." Vegeta dropped his stance and turned to Bulma. "You catch on pretty quick, for a waterbender."

"Well, I don't know, it just felt…natural, I guess." She looked at her hands. "I've never felt anything quite like it, it's like I've been doing this dance my whole life. All I needed was a little refresher." She looked back at Vegeta. "Thanks. But perhaps you'd like to learn a real dance."

He rose an eyebrow. "Does it look like I want to learn how to dance?"

"Come on! Please. At least just watch, maybe you'll like it." She smiled, Bulma loved to dance.

"First, you start with a bow." Bulma placed her fist against her palm and bent slightly forward. "Then, you raise your hand like this while crossing your other hand across your stomach like this." The blunette demonstrated. "Typically, your wrist would be pressed against your partner's wrist. You lock eyes and you just somehow know what they're going to do next." She dropped her hands. "It's almost like fighting really."

Bulma reached over and forced Vegeta's hands in the proper positions. "I refuse to continue this alone."

He sighed, he could feel that she wasn't going to drop the matter so he played along.

She bowed and he didn't. "Come on, Vegeta. You're just making this longer than it needs to be."

They shared a bow before assuming the first position their wrist pressed against one another's.

He looked her in the eyes. "This is stupid."

Bulma took a step forward while maintaining contact with him. "We haven't even got to the fun parts yet."

Bulma did a quick turn and to her surprise Vegeta followed through with the same movement. "See, you knew I'd turn, you could feel it right?"

It was kind of like fighting, different from anything he had learned before. But he could anticipate her next move.

Bulma kicked forward and Vegeta took a step to the side before throwing a kick of his own. Bulma ducked in a low phoenix stance. She rose back up to the original position. "Not too shabby."

They continued a while longer, they performed the first five stances of the dancing dragon before returning to each other. She smiled as she did a turn and bent back into the Prince's arms, she completely let herself go.

She looked up at him, he was now holding her in his arms, but before she could even think to continue the dance he leaned in and kissed her. He pulled away before Bulma even had a chance to react.

"We're done here, don't ever ask me to participate in that stupid dance again."

Bulma stood up shocked. "Hey, why are you getting mad? **You** kissed **me** remember?"

"Don't remind me." He looked back at her. He wasn't sure why he did it, his reflexes caused him to kiss a woman from the water tribe. He kissed her before, but this time wasn't by force.

"Surely, you don't still think you're better than me because I'm from the water tribe?" She questioned.

"Remember you said it not me."

"But you were thinking it."

"I'm going to bed."

"Ugh. Fine! I'm going to bed too. Just be sure that you stay on your side of the bed."

The couple reluctantly crawled into the bed and laid with their backs toward one another, neither of them managed to catch any sleep.

-TBC-

I'm going to try and update this and my other story on the same day or at least within one day of the other. I'm trying to be a better person lol. BTW the Resurrection of F movie was amazing right?! It was so good I saw it twice. I can't deal with that Krillin and 18 moment like I want to write for them now lol at least a oneshot.


End file.
